Chidambaram To Launch Website For J-K Youths

25 March 2012The Hindustan Times

New Delhi: Union home minister P Chidambaram will on Monday launch a website for Jammu and Kashmir youths who are looking for opportunities in education and employment. The project, Special Industry Initiatives for Jammu and Kashmir Udaan, will upgrade skills and enhance employability of 8,000 youths every year, for a period of five years, in key high growth sectors, official sources said. The government will work along with the corporate sector to bring about a positive change in their skills and employment space in Jammu and Kashmir through collaborative approach, they said. 'Udaan' is targeted at providing well-paid jobs to the trained manpower. The scheme is being implemented by National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and the corporate sector in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The scheme will cover graduates, post graduates and professional degree holders. 'Udaan' intends to provide exposure to the youths of Jammu and Kashmir to corporate world and also provide access to the corporate India to the rich talent pool available in the state, they said, adding it targets the youths who are educated but do not have marketable skills. This talent pool in the absence of job opportunities becomes highly alienated and their potential in turning around the state economy is wasted. By providing them jobs, the scheme proposes to channelise their energies into creative pursuits. Identified companies will screen and select students from the state. After assessing the skill gap of the trainees, a training module will be finalised, the duration and nature of training being decided by the companies, the sources said. Trainees will be relocated to the facility where intensive job oriented training will be provided by the corporate. An Expert Group was constituted by Prime Minister's Office under the chairpersonship of C Rangarajan, to formulate a job plan for Jammu and Kashmir. It had suggested a two pronged approach to employment generation: (a) identify sectoral initiatives for growth and employment generation and (b) increase employability of youth by improving skill sets. To improve the skills of the youth and create employment, the Expert Group suggested a number of initiatives. The scheme, 'Special Industry Initiative in Jammu & Kashmir' (SII J&K) is one such important initiative. It was approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in July, 2011. Several leading business groups have shown keen interest in participating in the 'Udaan' skills training programme for graduates and post graduates of Jammu and Kashmir.